Race issues no boundary to good decision-making

by: Porschae Smith

In last month’s issue of the Cardinal News, there was an article entitled, “Fights Alarm Staff, Students, Community,” which offended many students. Was this article necessary? Yes, it was. The article wasn’t intended to cause a disturbance, but rather to be a wake-up call. It was intended to tell all the students who contribute to such activities to stop.

The fights, drugs, stealing and all of the arrests are not only ruining the reputation of certain students, but also the reputation of the school. Many students fail to understand that school is

Or why students’ respect needs to be earned

by: John Deisinger

Four years of experience has given me something of a broad perspective on the way this school operates. I’ve noticed many ironies and hypocrisies in this system, and have spoken on them. Here. At length. However, I’d like to take this opportunity, in my final column, to express my dissatisfaction with a practice here that is not mandated by any policy, enforced by any administration, detailed in any memo.

It works something like this. The manner in which we (students) are treated here is with a degree of respect equal to the amount allotted a

Letter to the Editor

by: various

On May 11, 2007, the Cardinal News featured an article about students fighting at East. While I believe the impact was unintentional, I spoke with many students as well as staff members and parents who had great difficulty seeing the value of publishing this story and felt there were racist overtones to the topic selection. I too fear that the topic selection and chosen details may reinforce stereotypes and do little to set the record straight.

While the article was mostly factual and the printing of student

Exam policy should be standard, equal

by: Editorial Staff

Wauwatosa is comprised of numerous public schools, yet it continually strives towards uniting these schools under the banner of the Wauwatosa School District. It is because of this goal of unity within the district that decisions are made with the entire district in mind. There remains, however, a policy discrepancy regarding exam exemptions.

With actions taking place to bring schools together, it is striking that a policy which effects the way high school students are graded and has the potential to serve as a powerful incentive, would

Teachers must create own exams

by: Evan Gorelick

As the year comes to a close, we find ourselves surrounded by memories of the year, cliché reminiscences of the year, and the ever-popular end-of-year workload that we all love so much. For many of us, a fair amount of this work consists of final projects that count as our semester exam grades. More and more students are assigning such projects in lieu of a standard test.

Because these projects count as our final exam grades, what these projects mean for students—and teachers, for what it’s worth—is that we do not have to show

Torture goes against American values

by: Jamey Kane

The definition of patriotism is very personal. For many Americans, patriotism in general is exercising the rights that Americans are privileged to have.

This may include flag waving and singing “God Bless America,” or it may be voting and marching to bring the troops home.

Unfortunately, the Bush administration is trying to shape the country’s view of patriotism, to create the feeling that patriotism is tied to support for the administration’s “war on terror.” This is unacceptable.

Besides the fact that this is a

Sports teach life skills

by: Emily Washcovick

When I was first asked whether I wanted to write the sports column for the Cardinal News, I was really excited. To have the opportunity to voice my opinion in our school newspaper about controversial, and sometimes very heated topics seemed like something that I would absolutely love to do.

Throughout this year I have had the opportunity to learn a lot about issues that are important to our school. I learned about such controversial topics as our Tommy Raider mascot to district budget cuts to pressures placed on students. I

El Salvador trip proves enlightening, powerful

by: Brittaney Check

I went on my first service trip to El Salvador, a small Central American country, over Spring Break. Weeks later all that I saw is still sinking in. I spent months preparing for what I would experience—but in hindsight, nothing less then submersion can prepare you for the world of developing countries outside of America.

Our group arrived in El Salvador around 8p.m. the first Saturday of break. Flying in, the ground below was almost completely dark, so little of the country has electricity. Our main method of transportation was by bus, and that